60 Fun Facts About Judo

What does the word 'judo' literally mean?

The 'do' suffix marks it as a way of life rather than a mere fighting technique, as in kendo and aikido.

Who created judo in 1882?

A small, bullied schoolboy of 41 kilograms, he took up jujutsu to defend himself and ended up reinventing it.

From which older Japanese fighting art was judo primarily developed?

Kanō drew mainly on the Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū and Kitō-ryū schools, dropping their blows and armed techniques and stressing free sparring.

What is judo's word for free sparring, which Kanō emphasised over pre-arranged forms?

His first teacher, Fukuda Hachinosuke, ran a nine-mat dojo with five pupils and prized technique over formal exercise, planting the idea.

Which two things, though present in some kata, are illegal in judo competition?

The goal in a contest is a forceful throw onto the back, a pin, or a submission by joint lock or choke.

Where did Kanō found his first dojo in February 1882?

The Eisho-ji training area was just twelve tatami mats; the school took its famous name two years later.

What does the name of judo's headquarters, the Kodokan, mean?

It began on twelve mats in a temple, moved to 40 mats in 1887 and 107 in 1894, and is now an eight-storey building in Tokyo.

Which competition first made judo's reputation by beating the old jujutsu schools?

The police department adopted judo as its primary martial art after those bouts.

What are judo's two guiding principles?

Seiryoku zen'yō and jita kyōei; Kanō illustrated the first with 'softness controls hardness'.

Which two students received the first shodan grades ever awarded in any martial art, in 1883?

They were the Kodokan's first two resident and non-resident students; the black-belt idea spread from judo to karate and beyond.

What is the highest score in a judo contest, ending it immediately?

It literally means 'one full point'; a throw with force and control onto the back earns it, and so does a 20-second pin.

Two of which lesser score add up to an ippon?

In 2017 the IJF scrapped yuko altogether, folding it into waza-ari, so a bout is now scored on just two values.

How long must a pin be held to score ippon in groundwork?

A submission is signalled by tapping the mat or the opponent at least twice, or by saying 'maitta', 'I surrender'.

What is a shido?

It literally means 'guidance'; it can also be given for prolonged non-aggression, and shidos decide a tie only after golden score.

Which joint is the only one that may be attacked with locks in competitive judo?

Locks on other joints survive only in kata such as the Katame-no-kata and the Kodokan goshin jutsu.

What are judo's three basic categories of technique?

Nage-waza, katame-waza and atemi-waza; the strikes survive only in kata and are banned in contest.

How many kata did the Kodokan officially recognise as of 2025?

They include the Nage-no-kata's fifteen throws and the Kime-no-kata's defences against dagger and sword.

At which Olympics did judo make its debut as a medal sport?

The IOC had voted it in at a session in Rome in 1960; it was dropped again for 1968 amid protests and has been back ever since.

Which Dutchman stunned the host nation by winning the open-weight gold at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics?

He beat Akio Kaminaga in the final; he had already become the first non-Japanese world champion in 1961.

How many European Championships did the 1964 Dutch Olympic champion win, a record?

He was later promoted to 10th dan; his 1961 world title was the first by a non-Japanese judoka.

In which year did women's judo become an official Olympic medal event?

It had appeared as a demonstration sport at Seoul in 1988, where Lynn Roethke's silver did not count in the US medal table.

Which Games first hosted judo's mixed team event, with three men and three women per side?

Each team fields -73, -90 and +90 kg men against -57, -70 and +70 kg women from the rival nation.

How many weight divisions per sex did judo use at the Paris 2024 Olympics?

The Olympics have used between four and eight divisions over the years, and two bronze medals are awarded in every class.

What two colours of judogi are permitted in official international competition?

One contestant in each match is designated to wear blue so referees and spectators can tell them apart.

Which Frenchman is the only judoka to have won twelve World Championship gold medals?

He went unbeaten for 154 fights between October 2010 and February 2020 and won Olympic heavyweight gold in 2012, 2016 and 2024.

How many consecutive wins did the French heavyweight have before Kokoro Kageura ended his streak in 2020?

The run had lasted almost a decade; his three individual Olympic golds came in the +100 kg class.

Which Japanese judoka is the only man to win three consecutive individual Olympic golds, all at -60 kg?

He took the extra-lightweight title in 1996, 2000 and 2004.

Which American won the first US women's Olympic judo medal, bronze in 2008, before conquering MMA?

Her mother AnnMaria De Mars had been the first American to win a World Judo Championship, in 1984.

Which American won Olympic judo gold at -78 kg in both 2012 and 2016, then a UFC belt?

She remains the only American judoka with Olympic gold and was promoted to sixth dan in 2016.

Which world leader took up judo at 11, holds an eighth dan and co-wrote a book on judo?

He later switched to sambo and won competitions in both in Leningrad; his actual skill has been disputed for lack of video evidence.

Which Kodokan judoka, nicknamed Conde Koma, taught the Gracies and fathered Brazilian jiu-jitsu?

Fourteen-year-old Carlos Gracie saw him demonstrate at a theatre in Belém in 1917 and asked to learn.

Which Soviet martial art was co-founded by Vasili Oshchepkov, an early European judo black belt?

It blends judo with wrestling; the Russian school of judo in turn borrows sambo's grips and has produced Fedor Emelianenko and Khabib Nurmagomedov.

In which year was the International Judo Federation founded?

Representatives of the European Judo Union met in London on 11 July and admitted Argentina; the Italian Aldo Torti became first president.

Roughly how many national federations belonged to the IJF as of 2025?

Marius Vizer of Romania and Austria became IJF president in 2007.

What did Kanō do at the 1932 Olympics that first brought judo to the Games?

He was ambivalent about judo becoming an Olympic sport, saying he had 'no objection' but felt 'rather passive' about it.

Kanō became the first Asian member of which sporting body in 1909?

A Swedish official's letter asking whether Japan would send a team to Stockholm 1912 set the process in motion.

Where did Kanō die in May 1938?

He was returning from an IOC meeting; because Japanese ships kept Tokyo time, his date of death differs by a day depending on the clock used.

What business was Kanō's family known for in Mikage, near Kobe?

The family brands included Hakushika, Hakutsuru and Kiku-Masamune, though his adopted father went into government instead.

Which former US president watched Kanō take part in a jujutsu demonstration in 1879?

The display was staged at the home of the businessman Shibusawa Eiichi during Grant's world tour.

Roughly how much did the teenage Kanō weigh when he was being bullied at school?

At 1.57 metres, he was dragged out of buildings and beaten, which is what sent him looking for a jujutsu teacher.

What did Kanō invent to popularise his art among Japanese women in the early 20th century?

Jūdō buyō mixed judo techniques with dance moves and was taught by one of the Kodokan's first female instructors, Atsuko Futase.

Which special-school ruleset, still practised at some Japanese universities, stresses groundwork?

The name is an acronym of Koto Senmon Gakko; the championships were held at Kyoto Imperial University.

Since which year has judo been a Paralympic sport?

It debuted at Seoul; women's Paralympic events followed in 2004.

What was removed from judo rules in January 2013, so that a golden-score period now has no time limit?

A tied match simply continues until someone scores or the opponent is penalised into defeat.

Which throws use mainly the arms, according to judo's classification of standing techniques?

Koshi-waza are hip throws and ashi-waza use the feet and legs; the Nage-no-kata takes three throws from each of five groups.

What are the two roles called in judo practice, the thrower and the one thrown?

Tori executes the technique, uke receives it, and the terms carry over into aikido and jujutsu.

Which Japanese judoka went unbeaten in 203 bouts between 1977 and 1985?

He retired on 17 June 1985 after winning five international gold medals including the 1984 Olympic open title, and later held senior roles at the IJF and All Japan Judo Federation.

Which multi-sport event added judo in 1990?

Judo had been Olympic since 1964 and Paralympic since 1988 by then.

Which of judo's oldest forms, derived from Kitō-ryū, was originally meant to be performed wearing armour?

Kanō preserved it because it embodied judo's principles even though it predates his art.

Which martial arts and combat sports does Wikipedia list as derived from judo?

It also shaped close-quarters combat, MMA and submission wrestling.

Which Israeli judoka became her country's first Olympic medallist, with silver at Barcelona 1992?

Oren Smadja took bronze at the same Games, giving Israel two judo medals in one Olympics.

Kanō based judo's kyū-dan ranking system on the grading used in which board game?

Beginners climb the kyū grades in descending numerical order before earning a dan grade and a black belt.

Who first proposed the blue judogi for high-level competition, at a 1986 IJF meeting in Maastricht?

In Japan both judoka still wear white, with a red or white sash to tell them apart.

Kanō's first jujutsu teacher, Fukuda Hachinosuke, taught which school of the art?

Fukuda ran a small nine-mat dōjō; on his death in 1880 Kanō inherited the school's scrolls.

How many throws make up the Nage-no-kata, each practised left- and right-handed?

They come three each from the five categories of throwing technique, from hand throws to side sacrifices.

Which judoka created the Nage-waza-ura-no-kata, a form of counter-throws?

It is considered far more coherent than the Go-no-sen-no-kata, a set of counters unknown in Japan itself.

Kanō's grandson Kano Yukimitsu served as the Kodokan's fourth president between which years?

The highest black-belt ranks have no formal requirements and are decided by the Kodokan president.

How large was the training area of Kanō's original Eisho-ji dōjō?

His Kitō-ryū teacher Iikubo came three days a week to help teach in the temple space.

In which year did judo enter the Youth Olympic Games, at the inaugural edition in Singapore?

The full Olympic programme had added women's judo as a medal event in 1992.

Besides tapping, a judoka can signal submission by saying which Japanese word?

Tapping the mat or the opponent at least twice with hand or foot works just as well.